Correcting Mistakes II: Daisy's Choice
by CJ - Lady of Gryffindor
Summary: Daisy Weasley thought she had found her happily ever after, instead, she finds herself 21, widowed and raising her three year old son without his father. She returns to her family, and to James Potter...her best friend...and, the one she left behind.
1. Daisy

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-Disclaimer: Harry Potter is the property of JK Rowling

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-This fiction is dedicated to everyone who loved Correcting Mistakes and reviewed faithfully. Also, to my beta; Bad Beta...er...I mean, neville 2.0.

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AN: Okay, so...I just had to do it. A itty bitty sequel to Correcting Mistakes. It won't be overly long. Just five chapters at the most. I have other projects I want to do...but the whole Daisy and James thing is haunting the heck out of me!

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Correcting Mistakes II: Daisy's Choice

Chapter One

Home Again

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Daisy Hollingsworth bristled with annoyance as she gave her watch a cursory glance. The plane was running behind and she knew that her mum and dad would be waiting anxiously for them at Heathrow . She could picture the scene as if she were a fly on the wall.

Mummy would be pacing nervously, glancing out the window every few minutes watching for some sign of lights. Daddy would be glaring at his watch as if it were to blame for the lateness of the plane. Her brothers and sisters, GJ, Danny, Poppy and Iris would be sitting side by side, bored to tears and ready to pick a fight with one another. Likely it would be GJ and Danny...GJ was a bit of a troublemaker and he particularly loved teasing Danny about his full name...Dan Delion.

Finally, the announcement came that they had arrived in London and would be landing momentarily. Daisy sighed thankfully and turned to her sleeping son.

"Hey, Sleepyhead." She shook him gently "Ready to see Grandma and Grandpa?"

Three year old RJ began to stir. He looked up at Daisy with huge brown eyes...his fathers eyes. Her son, Robert Jardin Hollingsworth the IV, was a mirror image of his handsome father, Robert Jardin Hollingsworth III. Daisy had met him her first day of college, he had already finished school and was working on his masters. Daisy had fallen madly in love, so in love that she had quit school to marry him six months later. RJ was born eleven months after their marriage and Daisy had thrown herself into life as a wife and mother. After Robert finished school he was offered a job in Scotland and so the family had moved away.

Then, three months ago, Robert had been on his way home from the store when a muggle had attempted to rob him. Robert had gone for his wand, but he was too slow. He was shot in the chest and died instantly.

Daisy suddenly found herself a twenty-one year old widow with a little boy to raise...but she didn't have to do it alone.

RJ yawned. "I'm still sleepy mummy."

"I know baby." Daisy said soothingly. It was ten o'clock at night, of course the poor boy was sleepy. "We'll get to Grandma and Grandpa's soon, then you can go right to bed. Okay?"

He yawned again and nodded "'Kay."

The fasten seat belts sign came on and they began to descend. Daisy felt a rush of relief...she was home...home at last.

Well, perhaps not _quite_ home. Home was in the wizarding village of Diagon Alley, in their huge house on Vector street.

The plane screeched to a halt and Daisy gave a soft sigh. She wasn't fond of muggle travel, but it was too far to apparate, and she wasn't about to fly all that way with RJ on her Firebolt6.

"Thank you for flying British International." The flight attendant said mechanically as Daisy stepped out of her seat and reached up for her carry on from the compartment over her head.

"Mummy?" RJ asked, somewhat loudly "Why does that lady sound like a robot?"

Daisy stifled a grin as the attendant gave her a withering look. She bent down and whispered in his ear "It's her job sweetheart."

"Oh." He nodded "I don't want her job when I get grown up then."

Daisy chuckled and took his hand, she couldn't resist a small grin as they passed the robotic flight attendant. Sometimes RJ was just too dead-on.

She caught sight of her father first, standing sentry duty just outside the gates. His face broadened into a wide smile as their eyes met, then he turned to Daisy's mother. Daisy laughed at the expression on her parent's faces. Clearly the throng of people in front of Daisy weren't moving fast enough for George and Luna Weasley...they looked as if they wanted to run into the mass, likely with her father knocking them out of the way to give her mother a clear run at Daisy.

"Daisy!" Luna shouted, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet excitedly "RJ!"

"Wave to Grandma." Daisy whispered in RJ's ear and he complied.

"She's going to squash me..." he said nervously as they at last cleared the throng "Isn't she?"

"Oh yeah." Daisy laughed as her mum and dad at last stood inches from them.

"Oh Daise!" Luna said as she wrapped her arms around them both, squeezing as hard as she could. "I'm so glad your home."

Daisy took a deep breath, breathing in the wonderful Lilac and vanilla scent of her mother. "I'm so glad to be home." she said, and for the first time it hit her just how much she meant it.

"Don't forget the old man." George said with a little tug on her hand.

"Daddy..." Daisy pulled away from Luna, handed RJ to her, then fell into her fathers arms.

It all caught up with her as she fell against her fathers chest. The months worth of sleepless nights since Roberts death, the hours spent with the muggle police and the Scottish Ministry of Magic making arrangements to get Robert's body sent back to Wales for burial at his families estate. She began to sob, great gasping sobs. "... Daddy."

"It's okay Daise." George said as he gently rubbed her back "You're home now, were going to take care of you."

Daisy nodded and pulled away. It wasn't until they were waiting at the baggage claim that she noticed that her brothers and sisters were missing.

"Where are the others?"

"They went to spend the weekend with Freddy and Sylvia." Luna said "We thought you might like a little peace at first."

Daisy smiled a little "It's nice of Freddy and Sylvia to take them, considering they are still practically on their honeymoon."

"Freddy might not have won the war..." George said with a small smile, remembering the epic battle between Freddy Weasley and James Potter for Daisy's affections "But he'd still do anything for you."

"Could have fooled me." Daisy said, her eyes glinting with something close to humor. "He swore he'd never speak to me again after Robert and I eloped."

A look of pain slashed across Daisy's face as she remembered that Robert...her husband, RJ's father...was never coming back.

"Thing's change sweetheart." Luna said as she took Daisy's hand. "The whole family is here for you. Were going to get you through this."

Daisy nodded and brushed her hand over RJ's brown curls. He had fallen asleep on Luna's shoulder and he looked like something resembling an angel.

"I'm just so glad to be home." She sighed deeply "The past few months have been like..." She shook her head and wiped at her face with her sleeve. "...like living in hell. I just want to go home. I want to go to my old room with the butterfly wallpaper and climb into my old bed with the fairy lights and ivy and see if I can pretend for a few minutes that I am a little girl again."

"I don't know if you can do that." George said as he put his arm around her shoulder "But if it helps, your still our little girl."

Daisy smiled up at him and rested her cheek on his chest like she had when she was a little girl...and for just a moment...

...she felt like everything was going to be okay.

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It was still mostly dark when Daisy woke, safe and warm with the soft white fairy lights giving the room a delicate glow. A faint pink was just beginning to shine on her bedroom wall, heralding the beginning dawn.

Her father had been right, even here in her old room, safe in her fairy bed, she hadn't been able to pretend that she was a little girl...not even for a second. The moment she had closed her eyes the nightmares had come again...nightmares of reliving the horrible moment when she'd had to identify Roberts body, nightmares of hours spent with the muggle police, trying to explain the unexplainable.

She shuddered now, remembering walking into the sterile while room filled with stainless steel tables, little trays everywhere with more stainless steel instruments scattered over them. She'd been met by a muggle woman who had looked shockingly sterile herself, her face cold, devoid of any sympathy just as the muggle police had been.

But then, the muggle police had...no, they still...believed that Robert had been killed in the middle of a drug deal gone bad. But that was ridiculous. Robert was a brilliant scientist, he and his research team had been on the trail of creating a potion that would eradicate dragon pox. Daisy was sure it had been his potions kit that had made the police think he was a drug dealer...it had to have been. After all, what did muggles know about wizard herbs and minerals? It had taken months of interrogation before she had been allowed to leave the country...to return to her family.

In the end, the Scottish Ministry of Magic had to step in...altering the memories of the muggle police involved and destroying all records of Roberts murder. His murder had been arrested on charges of another murder of a non-existent muggle, a memory of committing the murder implanted in his head, and a signed confession in his file.

With a deep sigh Daisy rolled onto her side and sat up. If she wasn't going to sleep, she might as well get a head start on the new day of misery. She snatched her robe from the credenza at the foot of her bed and slid into it, then made her way downstairs.

It was Saturday morning, and she had thought she would have the kitchen to herself, but she was wrong. She hadn't counted on her fathers deep seated habit of doing his books on Saturday mornings causing him to rise so early...particularly after they had had such a late night before.

"Daddy." She bent down and kissed him on the cheek "You're up early."

"Actually, I slept in a bit today." He said with a small smile. "Didn't get up until six-fifteen."

Daisy grinned as she reached for the tin of tea. "And that's your idea of sleeping in?"

George nodded "Unlike your mother, who's idea of sleeping in runs anywhere from eleven to noon."

"Give mum a break." She said as she put the kettle under the faucet. "Danny and GJ must run her ragged."

George threw his head back and laughed loudly "You don't know the half of it. It use to be much worse, before you sisters started school, when she had all four of them underfoot."

"Well, I always tell her..." Daisy shook her head with a small grin as she put the kettle on the stove "...she should have stopped after me."

"Really Daise, you love your brothers and sisters."

"Of course I do." She smiled "Its easy to love the little monsters from a few hundred miles away."

"Speaking of little monsters..." George began "Have you spoken to _your_ twin sister lately?"

Daisy's twin was of course, Annie. Though technically they were only sisters because George had adopted Daisy when he married Luna, the two girls were closer than most blood sisters.

"Annie?" Daisy asked as she poured tea in her cup "I talk to her everyday...why?"

"And did she tell you her latest news flash?"

"Of course she did." Daisy smiled "Grandpa."

"And did she further tell you she isn't planning on marrying prat?"

"Really daddy..." Daisy rolled her eyes "...it's Matt, and you know it too. Yes, she told me."

"Why do you sound like your just peachy with this?" George growled

"Dad...you know Annie doesn't believe in marriage." Daisy stirred honey into her tea and sat down across from him.

"Yeah, I know" And he also knew WHY Annie didn't believe in marriage. It was his fault, his and Annie's mother. They had made a royal mess out of things and taken Annie and her brother Freddy along for the ride. Things had become so bad at one point that George had nearly killed himself. But things had come out okay in the end. Both George and Angelina had fallen in love, real love, and had been happily married since.

"I know." He repeated "I just don't understand it. She's said she understands what happened between Angie and I...and she understands that not every marriage is like that..." He shook his head. "So why is she being so stubborn."

"Annie's always been stubborn." Daisy grinned "One of the things I love most about her in fact."

"I just don't understand it. You didn't turn against marriage...why did she?" George said, shaking his head.

"Hmmm..." Daisy thought hard, trying herself now to figure out what the difference was. Her memories of her biological father had become blurred during the years of happiness since George Weasley had become her father. When she thought of Rolf Scamander, all she could remember was her mother being call vile names and being more afraid than she could ever remember being since.

But what stood out more in her memory was how happy her mother had become once George had come into their lives. How happy SHE had been since George had come into HER life. Surely, Annie must have seen the same thing happen with Angelina and Lee? They were just as happy as her mum and dad were.

"I don't know Dad." Daisy shrugged "I think everyone's just different. Freddy grew up in the exact same way as Annie did, but he got married."

"I wish your sister would." George rolled his eyes "Angie's got to be going bugshit."

A small twinge of anger shot through Daisy. "She should just be happy that Annie is healthy and happy, both of you should."

George looked up from the massive pile of papers. Daisy was near tears and he felt like a total shit. She was right...look at all she had lost...you never know which day may be the last you have.

"I'm sorry Daise." He reached across for her hand "You're right...I didn't mean to upset you."

Daisy gave his hand a squeeze, then let it go and stood under the guise of getting a glass of water.

At that moment a spectacular eagle owl swooped in through the window and landed on the chair next to George.

"Morning Felicia." He said as the owl held out her leg. George untied the Saturday copy of the Daily Prophet, deposited three sickles in the small brown pouch on her other leg, and then watched her fly off.

Daisy sat back down as George lay out the paper on the table in front of him. "It's okay daddy. It's not your fault. I'm just having one of my down moments...they come and go..."

George smiled widely "Well, I have news that might cheer you up."

"What's that?"

George turned the paper around and pointed to a small article toward the bottom.

---

_Potter Returns_

_Rising hotshot rookie Auror_

_James Potter has returned to_

_London after months _

_in Madrid where he nearly_

_single-handedly captured five_

_escaped prisoners who broke free_

_last month while they were being_

_transported from a hearing at the_

_Ministry of Magic to Azkaban._

_Potter sustained minor injuries in_

_the capture and will be on medical_

_leave temporarily, staying with _

_his family in London. _

_Potter is of course, the_

_son of Auror department head_

_Harry Potter. Well known for his_

_defeat of he-who-must-not-_

_be-named, Potter himself _

_was once a rising star and is_

_already gaining favor to replace_

_Herring McKinley as Minister_

_of Magic when he retires late_

_next year. _

_Potter denies interest_

_in accepting the appointment. _

_Neither James nor Harry Potter _

_were available for comment._

_---  
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"James was hurt?" Daisy put her hand to her throat "How bad do you think?"

"I'm sure it wasn't serious sweetheart." He patted her hand "Albus would have let us know if it had been anything to worry about."

He looked at his daughter for a moment, a slight gleam in his eyes. He hated seeing Daisy so sad. She was listless, dull...far from the bright bubbly girl he knew she was inside. He also knew if anyone could bring back the sparkle in Daisy...it was James Potter. They had been best friends since they were mischievous five year olds, tying Albus to the magnolia tree in Harry and Ginny's backyard. Luna had thought it might ebb when Daisy was sorted into Ravenclaw, and James was sorted into Gryffindor. After all...Daisy was off in Ravenclaw tower and James and Freddy were half the castle away, off in Gryffindor tower with a whole passel of pretty Gryffindor girls...but Luna had been wrong. The absence had only made the heart grow fonder...and, Freddy and James were able to fight without Daisy being privy...not that Annie didn't tattle.

George had always believed that Daisy and James would have married had it not been for her reluctance to hurt Freddy. They had fought over her for years...until Daisy was fifteen and had gotten quite fed up with it and told them that she would never make a choice between them.

But while Freddy had taken her words to heart and moved on...James had never dated, had never even looked around...even though girls seemed to like him quite well.

Deep down, George suspected that James had given his heart to Daisy for life.

"I think you should go see him Daise." George smiled "See if he's doing okay."

"Maybe your right." Daisy smiled a little. She knew if anyone could cheer her up...it was James.

He had always been there for her, and deep down, she knew he always would be.

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Chapter Two Preview

Daisy visits James!

Will something rekindle...

or will it splutter.

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	2. Annie

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-Disclaimer: Harry Potter is the property of JK Rowling

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Sorry, I know it's been forever since I updated. I will try to do better!

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Correcting Mistakes II: Daisy's Choice

Chapter Two

Annie

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Daisy smiled in anticipation as she stopped at the door of a small blue house in the village of Hogsmeade. Of all the visits she had made in the past week, this was the one she had been looking forward to the most. Inside was the girl who was her best friend, her sister...so close their father had taken to referring to them as twins...even though they technically weren't even blood sisters.

To those who knew them, it was hard to believe that Daisy and Annie had gotten off to a terrible start. A start so terrible in fact that Daisy had left the encounter badly shaken, and Annie, so angry that she had gone back to Australia, where she had lived at the time, so angry that she had fervently hoped she would never see the little blond upstart ever again.

But during the following summer, Daisy and Annie had discovered that they shared something vital in common...both had had parents who had divorced over the past year, and both were in terrible pain over it, though for different reasons.

Annie and her brother Freddy had never known a time when their parents hadn't been fighting constantly. The fights were horrible and always resulted in their father leaving and not coming back until the next day. Still, when they had separated, Annie had felt like she was losing everything that she had known. Right away they had moved far away, their mother had married within months and their father was dating the woman their mother had blamed for their fights.

Daisy had watched while her mother was horribly abused by her birth father, even tortured under the unforgivable Cruciatus curse. Daisy was used as a pawn, more or less kidnapped by him to force her mother to return to where they had lived in Greenstown. Unlike Annie, Daisy was happy when her parents separated. But that didn't end things. Her birth father had only become worse, tormenting her mother and had even attempted to take Daisy...and then, he hurt her one time too many. Luna had finally told the truth and Rolf Scamander had been arrested and sent to Azkaban. More importantly for Daisy, he lost his parental rights and she gained a new identity....Daisy Lovegood.

Annie's father had built a huge house and though Daisy was fairly sure that he would have married her mother on the spot, it was far too soon. Instead, they lived side by side. That first summer was difficult for the girls, they were wary of one another at first, the memory of their first disastrous meeting still ringing in their memories.

It was thanks to James and Freddy that the two became friends. George and Luna had agreed to watch Albus and James while Ginny was in the hospital giving birth to their new sister Lily, and it became quite awkward from the moment the two cousins lay eyes on one another...both were competing for Daisy's affections.

-Flashback-

"Look who's here!" George said, a small grin twitching his mouth. He had been looking forward to this for sometime, knowing how Freddy and James both were besotted with Daisy . He had figured it would be quite entertaining...in a twisted sort of way.

Freddy looked up from the table where he was teaching Daisy to play wizards chess. "Dad...what's _HE_ doing here?"

Daisy looked up, her face spreading into a wide beaming smile. "James!" She shot up from the table and tackled him in a crushing hug.

"Hey Daisy!" James said excitedly "Guess what? I'm staying for three whole days!"

"THREE DAYS?" Freddy yelled "DAD!"

"Yeah Wedge?" George smirked

"He can't stay..." Freddy protested "We don't have room!"

Luna shot George a warning look...a look he ignored. "I know...that's why James and Al are kipping over at Luna's, in the spare room."

James smirked and turned to smirk at Freddy "Sounds good to me."

"You farthead!" Freddy glared back "I'll kick your arse!"

"Freddy..." George warned and Freddy backed away, properly cowed.

James stuck his tongue out as he picked up his bag and followed Luna to the other side of the house. Freddy followed, bellowing out orders to James about where he was and was not allowed to go. Annie looked across the room at Daisy and couldn't resist a small grin.

"Cool" She giggled and set to putting away the chess set "This is going to be fun."

"They won't hurt each other...will they?" Daisy asked nervously

"We can only hope." Annie giggled and caught Daisy's eye. Her smile wiped from her face when she saw how afraid Daisy was. "They won't really hurt each other, will they Daddy."

"Nah." George picked Daisy up and gave her a gentle squeeze "They're boys...tough you know? They might squabble a bit, but, they'll be fine."

"See?" Annie smiled "If Daddy says so, it must be true...cause Daddy _never_ lies. Right Daddy?"

"Right you are." George grinned. Daisy nodded nervously as George set her back on the floor. "Why don't you two go break in that pool?"

"C'mon" Annie took her hand

-End Flashback-

They'd spent the next few days rolling their eyes at James and Freddy's squabbles and the whole four weeks laughing at Freddy's attempts to impress Daisy...which even he would admit these days... were pretty lame. But as the relationship between James and Freddy went south, the relationship between Annie and Daisy grew until when the day came that Annie had to go back to Australia, both girls had wept sadly.

Two years later, when Freddy was ready to start his first year at Hogwarts, Annie and Freddy had moved to Hogsmeade with their mother, step father, and new brother. From that time on, Annie and Daisy spent every weekend together and when the time came for them to attend Hogwarts, though they had been sorted into different houses, Annie to Gryffindor, Daisy to Ravenclaw...they had become closer than ever...a closeness that hadn't abated in the slightest when Daisy had moved to Scotland.

Daisy shook herself as she reached for the bell.

"Daisy!" Angelina Jordan smiled widely and pulled Daisy into a hug. "Annie told me you were back!"

"Angelina! It's so good to see you." Daisy felt warmth spread over her. Angelina Jordan was one of her mothers best friends. It hadn't always been that way...she had once hated Luna bitterly, but time and healing changed that until Angelina was like an aunt to Daisy.

"Come in dear."

Daisy stepped inside as Angelina closed the door behind her. She looked around, but saw no sign of Annie anywhere.

"Oh, she's in the loo." Angelina grinned "The first trimester isn't being very kind to her I'm afraid."

Daisy stifled a laugh. She too had spent the majority of her first trimester with her head buried in the toilet.

"Please, sit. I just made tea."

"I do hope she's not too sick." Daisy said as she took the offered seat at the table. " I could come back..."

"Not at all." Angelina waved her words away "She's been wanting to see you, but, well...to be honest..." Angelina grinned "She's avoiding your father at the moment."

"Ah." Daisy laughed softly "Yes, daddy isn't very happy about her plans...or maybe I should say, lack of plans."

Angelina sighed and sat down across from her. "I admit, I would like to see her do the traditional thing myself. But, I don't blame her for being skittish about the whole marriage thing. Her memories of your father and I are very much in tact." Angelina looked so sad, as if she were carrying the weight of the blame on herself.

"You shouldn't blame yourself Angie." Daisy shook her head

Angelina grinned "You sound like your father."

"Well, it's true. Daddy always says that he was as much to blame as you."

"So tell me." Annie said from the doorway, a sick but happy look on her face. "Did you really come to see me, or did our well meaning daddy send you to talk some sense into me?"

Daisy was up in a flash and she nearly knocked Annie over with the force of her excitement as she hugged her.

"Not so tight." Annie laughed. "Unless you want me to vomit on you."

"Sorry." Daisy grinned as she let her go.

"I made you some medicinal tea dear." Angelina said, getting up and fetching a smaller kettle from the stove."This worked wonders for me when I had your younger brothers and sister."

"What's in it?" Annie looked at the cup suspiciously

"Muggle-grown herbs actually." Angelina said as she sat down again "Pop found them in a shop when he was visiting the US."

"Oh...how is Lee?" Daisy smiled. Annie's stepfather, aka "pop" was Lee Jordan, one of Daisy's favorite people in the world and her fathers best friend and the longtime announcer for the Hogsmeade Hexers.

"He's well. Off on another trip, the Hexers are playing Canada this week, he promised to swing down and get more herbs if these helped."

"If I can keep them down." Annie groused as she hefted the cup and sniffed gingerly. She took a cautious sip, then downed the whole cup. "Wow...that's actually pretty good mum."

"Better?"

"Yes, I think so... " Annie smiled her first true smile since Daisy had arrived "...better tell Pop to bring back more."

Angelina promised she would, and then she looked at her watch and gasped...her youngest children would be wanting lunch...and she dashed out the door.

"You look much better." Daisy observed

"I do feel much better. It's amazing … maybe granddad has it right, messing with all that muggle stuff after all."

Daisy giggled. "Don't let Gran hear you say that. Just yesterday she was chewing him out for leaving his bucket of spark plugs all over the living room."

"I hear you went to see Freddy." Annie said as she went to the fridge for something to eat.

"Yes, I felt so bad...I hadn't even met Sylvia yet."

"Sylvia's great." Annie said as she sliced bread "What she sees in my idiot brother...I'll never know."

"Really Annie." Daisy grinned "Freddy is a wonderful person."

"If he is so wonderful..." Annie said as she sliced onion "Why didn't you marry him?"

"You KNOW why." Daisy said stubbornly

"Yes, I know why." Annie layered the onions thickly on one side of the bread, then to Daisy's horror, began slathering peanut butter on the other.

"ANNIE!" Daisy gasped "You are not going to eat that!"

"Of course not." Annie rolled her eyes "Not without the summer sausage."

Daisy tried not to gag as she watched Annie finish piling thick summer sausage on the peanut butter.

"Anyway..." Annie shook her head and took a large bite. She rolled her eyes in absolute pregnant womans bliss for a moment. "...I get it...you didn't want to make a choice between the idiot git Freddy and incurably sweet, incredibly sexy, James...who is totally off limits to me because I am related by blood, while you...sigh...girl, I don't know what you were thinking."

"Robert was a wonderful person." Daisy said sadly "You just never had a chance to get to know him, we moved away right after we were married."

Annie wasn't about to argue, she loved her sister dearly. But the truth was, she had never liked the man Daisy had married. Oh sure, he was kind in his way, and good looking, and polite...but Robert Hollingsworth III had struck Annie as being very cold and distant towards her sister. He had never taken her hand as they walked together, or put his arm around her and at the small reception the family had thrown after their elopement, Robert hadn't kissed her...not even once.

"Daisy, I know you think the moon rose and set for Robert...but..."

"Annie...please."

Annie looked like she wanted badly to argue, but she backed off. "You have to admit Daise...you blew us all out of the water." Annie said "We all expected you to marry James...I think even Freddy expected you to in the end. You two were ALWAYS together."

It was true. Daisy and James had been inseparable from the moment they had first laid eyes on each other at the age of five. Their shenanigans both at home and school had come to the point that it rivaled the legendary Fred and George Weasley. But under all that was the constant pressure Daisy felt in the ever-simmering rivalry between James and Freddy.

"I couldn't have chosen one without hurting the other." Daisy said with a small shrug "It was better that I chose neither."

"It didn't do any good you know." Annie shook her head "They still act as if they can't stand each other."

"Maybe so, but at least it isn't because of me."

Annie laughed "If you honestly believe that, you are totally delusional."

"Am not." Daisy said defensively.

"Whatever." Annie shrugged as she finished off the last of her sandwich, looking at the counter as if debating a second. "So tell me ...why haven't you gone to see James yet?"

Daisy was brought up short. She didn't know how to answer...even she didn't know why she hadn't gone to see James. She had been back for over a week now, and still...she hadn't been able to bring herself to visit even though she wanted to see him badly. She had been excited about seeing him when her father had first told her that James was back, but every time she thought about seeing him...she became scared. She couldn't help remembering the last time she had seen James, the last time she had made the trip home for Christmas just after RJ was born. James had become furious over a comment Robert had made and the resulting fight between the two had been horrible.

"You're not still mad at him for hitting Robert are you?" Annie looked exasperated. "That was three years ago, and besides, he had it coming."

Daisy paled, thinking of her mother and biological father. "There is never a good reason to hit someone."

"He called you a fat cow Daisy!" Annie's eyes went huge "In front of Gran and everybody...he said he wouldn't touch you again until you stopped resembling the side of a barge!"

"Well...I was fat."

"Yeah, and you'd just had RJ three weeks before." Annie rolled her eyes "Anyway, you shouldn't be mad at James...he was just defending you. Daddy even said he would have hit Robert if he'd heard what he'd said. If you ask me, Robert was damned lucky Daddy, Uncle Harry, Uncle Charlie and Uncle Ron were outside playing with fire."

"Well I expect it of daddy, he's my father. But James..."

"James is just the guy who's been in love with you since you were five years old!"

"Yeah, "Daisy said, her temper rising "But he doesn't respect me."

"Of course he..."

"No, he doesn't." Daisy said angrily "He told me so himself. That day...he said 'I can't respect someone who doesn't respect themselves.'

"I know he said that...but...you were both angry...I'm sure he didn't mean..."

"Yes. He did." Daisy put her face in her hands "You didn't see it...the way he was looking at me when he said it. He looked like he hated me."

And as she spoke it became clear to her...the reason she was unable to see James now.

"What if he still looks at me that way?" Daisy looked up, tears streaming down her face. "I couldn't stand it...I've already lost Robert, what if I go to see James and find out that I've lost him too?"

Annie reached across the table, taking Daisy's hands in hers. "I know it's difficult Daise...but...if you don't go, you'll never know. In the end, you'll have lost him anyway."

Daisy gave Annie's hands a squeeze as she nodded. Annie was right...she had to go see James.

She had to know for sure, one way or another.

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-Chapter Three Preview

Daisy visits James

their visit forces her to see some truths about

her marriage to Robert.

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	3. Robert

-Disclaimer: Harry Potter is the property of JK Rowling

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Correcting Mistakes II: Daisy's Choice

Chapter Three

Robert

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Daisy hesitated, her hand over the Potters griffin shaped door knocker. From a distance she could hear the Potter men in all their rambunctious glory and she longed to be closer to the merriment. But it was James she had come to see...yet, James who caused her to hesitate.

The last time they had seen each other had ended so ugly. An innocent conversation about baby fat had led to Robert making an ugly comment, and James had reacted badly...sending Robert flying into granddad Weasley's collection of muggle tools.

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-Flashback-

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"_James!" Daisy yelled furiously as she followed James out the back door of the Burrow, James had just punched Robert. "What the hell is wrong with you?"_

_James stopped and turned around, he rolled his eyes and without another word continued across the yard. _

"_James!" Daisy ran to catch up, grabbing his elbow and forcing him to stop "What did you think you were doing?"_

"_What did it look like I was doing Daise?" He said blandly, determined to control his temper. _

"_It looked like you were making a bloody arse of yourself." She yelled back "Mr. Macho with his big fists."_

"_He got no more than he deserved."_

_Daisy crossed her arms angrily. "You know how I feel about violence...there is never a good reason..."_

"_Whatever Daisy." James rolled his eyes. "You may enjoy life as a human door-mat, but don't expect me to just sit by while he walks all over you."_

"_I am NOT a human door-mat!"_

_James laughed in her face. "He treats you like shit, and you let him. If that's not a human door-mat, then I don't know what is." _

"_Merlins fat arse." Daisy rolled her eyes "HE WAS JOKING!"_

"_No, he was not." James shook his head "You may be blind to his ways Daise, but the rest of us see it, clear as day. He treats you like crap, even your mum and dad think so."_

"_They do not!" Daisy raged "Your just saying that...because your jealous! You're just still mad because I wouldn't choose between you and Freddy!"_

"_You know...you're awfully arrogant for someone who hasn't got a shred of self-respect." James said nastily, his eyes thin, angry, slits. _

"_How dare you!" Daisy's hands fisted at her sides, her nails digging deeply into her palms. "If you can't respect my marriage, you should at least respect my wishes...respect me!"_

_James glared bitterly " How am I suppose to respect someone who doesn't even respect themselves?"_

_He turned away and Daisy let him go, her throat tight, tears pouring down her cheeks.

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_-end flashback-

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"Oh James." Daisy whispered as she stared at the knocker on the Potters front door. "I've missed you so much...if only you knew."

She took a deep breath and raised her hand, the knocker fell with a loud crash.

"Daisy!" Lily Potter opened the door and smiled widely, jumping into her cousins arms. "We've been wondering when you were going to come over!"

"Hey Lily! Gosh, you've grown so much!" She pulled back and looked at the pretty teenage girl "Wow, look at you...your so grown up!"

"Yeah." Lily giggled "That's not what daddy says...he keeps threatening to curse any boys I bring around."

"Lily...who's at the door..." Ginny Potter said as she stepped into the hall, she broke into her own smile and hugged Daisy tightly.

"Daisy, it's so good to see you." Ginny said as she pulled back.

"I'm sorry I didn't come sooner." Daisy said "It's just...well...things have been weird. Getting used to being back home again, and getting RJ settled."

"You didn't bring him with you?"

"No, Grandma and Granddad took him shopping...they say for winter clothes, but..."

"Right." Ginny grinned. "Knowing your Granddad, it will be toy shopping."

"Right in one." Daisy said with a small laugh.

"Well come on in, Harry and the boys are out back trying to do something with that mess of leaves before the snow flies. I told them to just vanish them, but..." She turned and lead them down a long hallway.

Lily laughed "Mum says they've spent too much time around granddad. Trying to be like muggles."

"Nothing wrong with trying to be like muggles." Ginny said with a small shake of her head. "But, all they've ended up accomplishing is making a bigger mess than we had before. They make the piles, then end up wrestling in them."

Daisy laughed, knowing Uncle Harry, James and Albus, that sounded about par for the course. And when they reached the glass patio doors, sure enough, Daisy could see the three Potter men wrestling in a huge mess of fall leaves.

Ginny slid a door open and stepped out into a huge yard. Rather than yelling, she lifted her fingers to her lips and whistled shrilly.

"What!" Harry yelled

"Al started it!" James, at the bottom of the pile, yelled.

"Daisy!" Albus, who was at the top of the pile, pulled himself to his feet and took off at a dead run, not stopping until he had tackled Daisy.

"Good to see you too Al." Daisy laughed as he squeezed the air out of her.

"I would have come to see you, but, I only just got home myself." he grinned.

"So, they let you graduate did they?" Daisy looked over his shoulder at James who was now on his feet, staring but not moving.

"Yep." Albus said proudly "I am now officially, an Auror."

"Good for you!" Daisy said proudly as she patted Albus on the arm.

"Not yet your not." Harry said as he came up behind them and lifted Daisy off her feet, squishing her. "Not until your accepted by the department head."

"Really dad." Albus rolled his eyes "Like you're going to reject your own kid."

"Well, considering the kids a reject himself." James said blandly from behind them. "Why wouldn't he?"

James looked at Daisy, his face appeared neutral, but to those who knew him, a fire had lit in his eyes at the sight of Daisy...a fire that had been burning since he was five years old. He didn't hug her, he knew that he didn't dare. Because if he did, he would never be able to let go of her. All his life, for as long as he could remember, it had always been Daisy. When he had good news, his first thought was to tell Daisy. When he was down, he knew her smile could lift his spirits. She had always been THE ONE. His only one, and he had never wanted to look at another. Not even once.

"Hey Daise." he said softly, breaking his eyes from hers.

"James." There was a hint of expectancy in her voice, as if she were hoping for something. Because, she in fact was. James had always been the one. The special one. The one who could make her smile no matter what, the one who was always, always there. After Robert was killed, and the police started questioning her, she knew the aurors would get involved, and deep down, she had prayed it would be James.

But it wasn't.

Not that she wasn't happy that Uncle Harry had taken the time to handle it himself, but, she couldn't help wondering if he had asked James first...and if James had refused to help her.

"Why don't you three come in and help me with lunch?" Ginny suggested, tugging Lily and Albus by the hand toward the house.

"Hint hint" Albus said with a small smirk as he ambled toward the house.

"He always was the subtle type." James said with a small grin, an adorable blush staining his cheeks as the deck door closed behind them, leaving James and Daisy alone. James motioned to a small patio set and they sat in a white wicker chairs.

"Well you know, it's a younger siblings job...torturing the elder. Look at all the ways Poppy and Iris have found to annoy me over the years."

"Al is certainly good at his job then." James flashed Daisy a grin again, a grin that had been, and now was, able to make her knees feel like over cooked linguine.

"So, you just got back from Madrid?" Daisy asked politely, unsure what to say now that she was actually there.

"Yep, couple weeks ago now." The hint of accusation was clear.

"I'm sorry." Her voice was soft, nervous. "I would have come sooner..."

"Don't." James held up a hand. "We've been through too much Daise. We owe each other better than lame excuses."

"You could have come to see me." She shot him an annoyed look. "The door opens both ways you know."

"Touche'" He shook his head "Look, let's just not go there, okay? We haven't seen each other in over a year and a half."

Daisy nodded "I read you were hurt. Are you okay?"

James' mouth twisted into a smirk "Yeah. Was my own fault. Let my guard down, one of them got a nasty stinger hex over on me. Took a little time to heal, but...you know me."

She certainly did know him. All of him. James Potter was an incredibly attractive man. He was tall, nicely built with a body a woman could deeply appreciate. But it was his face that daisy had always loved the best. How many hours had she spent staring into his amazing light brown eyes? How many times had her heart flipped over when he grinned that devilish grin of his?

But James went beyond appearances. He was heart and soul. A fierce friend, someone who would step in front of an avada kedavra to save the life of an innocent stranger. Daisy had loved James her entire life. Since they were children. But she had loved Freddy too, and even if it wasn't the same kind of love she held for James, she hadn't been able to stand the idea of hurting him.

And so, she had refused her heart.

"I'm glad you're okay." Her eyes were soft, the meeting was much more emotional than she had planned on and after the turmoil of the last few months, she felt as though she must soon find relief or she might break.

"How are you?" James asked softly "I can't imagine it's been easy for you."

"No, it hasn't. I miss him so much."

"Right."

Without meaning to, James let out a derisive snort. Daisy looked up, James' face was angry and full of contempt.

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"Nothing." James forced his face to blandness.

"You're lying."

"Daisy..." James shook his head "You know how I felt about _him_. Okay? So let's just not go there."

"But...I need someone, someone to talk to." She whimpered a little. "I wanted...needed it to be you!"

"I can't, not about _him_." James refused to meet her eyes...a sign that Daisy was more than familiar with. The only time, ever, that James hadn't been able to look her in the eye was when he was keeping a secret from her. It was how she could always tell when he and Freddy had been at it again.

"You're keeping something from me." She accused.

"Ppft." His mouth twisted into disbelief "What would I be keeping from you?"

"I don't know...but...I know that look." Daisy tried to make him meet her eye.

"Daise..."

"Why won't you talk to me about Robert James?"

A nervous feeling was growing in her stomach. James was an Auror, he would be privy to certain information about Roberts case. Did he know something? Something that Uncle Harry hadn't told her three months ago in Scotland?

"James! Tell me what you know!"

"Daisy, did it ever occur to you, that I don't want to talk about Robert, because I think Robert was a bastard?"

"You didn't even know him!" Daisy stood and glared at James angrily "You're judging him on one comment, a JOKE, made three years ago!"

"A joke!" James snorted "He treated you like shit! He walked all over you, probably slapped you around too!"

"Robert never hit me!"

"Okay fine, but what about the rest? Huh Daise? What about how he talked to you? Do you think Annie couldn't hear him in the background when you were on the phone? That your mother and father couldn't? They ALL heard it, the names he called you, the things he used to say to you. I would have thought after what your birth father did to your mother, you, of all people, would know better than to stay with someone like that!"

Daisy shot out of her chair. Nobody ever brought Rolf Scamander up to her...ever!

"Don't you bring _him_ up! Not EVER! Do you hear me! NEVER!"

"Well someone has to, because, obviously, you've forgotten! But you know what Daise, I HAVEN'T! I remember! I remember Angelina coming to Uncle Ron's house, and her telling Dad and Uncle Ron that your mum had been beaten up!"

"Shut up!"

"I ALSO remember Aunt Hermione telling us that YOU had been taken, and being more scared than I ever had been before in my life, scared that he was going to hurt you too, that you would never come back!"

"SHUT UP!" Daisy screamed, tears running down her face. But James was only getting started.

"And after all that, you go and hook up with that bastard Robert, a guy just like your father."

"That's not true! Robert was a good person! He was decent, and..."

James was sick it. Her denial of the way Robert had treated her was one thing. But James had been forced to keep a secret, a secret that Daisy had every right to know...and he was sick of it.

"Robert was a lowlife Daisy and EVERYONE knows it!"

"He was not!"

"He was!" He stepped forward and took her by the arms. "You know what he was doing all day in the lab of his? He was creating meth. Do you know what Meth is? It is a DRUG, a DRUG that DRUG DEALERS SELL SO MUGGLES CAN GET HIGH! He tried to scam them! To run off with a bunch of their money and they killed him for it!"

Daisy's face went white. She froze for a moment, then, she jerked away.

"It's not true." She said, her lip trembling. "You...you're lying. Robert wouldn't have..."

"The muggle police aren't as stupid as you think Daisy." James voice was a deadly quiet. "They found it in his brief case."

"No...that was his potions kit." She shook her head, a horrible freeze falling over her body.

"It was Meth Daisy."

"James." Harry stood in the doorway, his face angry. "That's enough."

"No..." Daisy shook her head "Uncle Harry would have told me...he was there, in Scotland..."

James closed his eyes and clenched his teeth "He didn't tell you, because Uncle George asked him not to."

"James!" Harry warned, going to Daisy and putting an arm around her shoulder.

Daisy looked ready to break. "It's not true. He...he's making it up..."

"Why would I do that?" James said "You know how I feel about you, why would I make up a story to hurt you?"

"Daisy..." Harry began

"Is it true?" She asked softly, pulling away from him and fixing him in her stare. "Was Robert making drugs for muggles?"

"Daise..."

"Tell her dad." James glared angrily at his father "Tell her the truth."

"Please...he was my husband, I have a right to know."

Harry looked at her helplessly, his face already telling her all she needed to know. He closed his eyes and nodded.

She nodded and walked away from him. Her hands steepled together, pressed against her lips.

"And did you not tell me because Dad asked you not to?"

Harry couldn't speak, he could barely nod.

"So then, you've all been lying to me."

"No, Daisy..." Harry reached for her again but she jerked away from him. "Daisy...please, try to understand. It wasn't like that. You were already hurting so much because Robert died. Your father...he didn't see a need to hurt you more than you already were nor for your memories to be jaded, for RJ's memories to be jaded."

"Since we were kids, you've all told us that there is never a good reason to lie, ever." Daisy leveled him with a glare. "You should all remember to practice what you preach."

"Daisy..."

She shook her head and turned away from Harry, then looked at James. Her silvery eyes like shards of ice.

Her face was hard, a careful facade pulled into place. James felt deeply what he had done, and though he was still sure it was the right thing, he wondered now if he had just destroyed any chance he and Daisy ever had to be close again. It was as if their friendship, all the years and memories they shared lay in broken pieces all around him, and he despaired of ever finding a way of putting them back together again.

"Thank you James, for telling me the truth. Goodbye." She said coldly, turning away from them.

"Daisy...wait..." James reached for her arm.

"Please James, just stay away from me." She said, her voice like ice.

She walked down the deck steps into the yard, then, apparated away.

Harry set his oldest with a deep angry glare.

"Dad..."

"James, you just committed a **major** violation of the Auror code of conduct." Harry brushed a hand through his hair and turned away. "Consider yourself suspended...without pay."

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Chapter Four Preview

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Daisy confronts

George and Luna, will the truth

tear their family apart, or bring them

closer together?

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	4. Daddy

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-Disclaimer: Harry Potter is the property of JK Rowling

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-A/N- So, yeah, good news, this is a super long chapter...double the length of the previous three chapters...and, it is a bit weepy in spots. Warning, there are flashbacks to Correcting Mistakes and Daisy's childhood, so, there is some violence as Gayrolfe makes a brief cameo.

bad news...or good news, depending on how you look at it...Only one more chapter after this one! So, look for the conclusion soon!

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Correcting Mistakes II: Daisy's Choice

Chapter Four

Daddy

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It was fifteen miles from the Potters house to the Leaky Cauldron, and Daisy walked all the way. Sometime in between the sun had gone in, ominous looking clouds had filled the sky and a light rain had begun to fall, yet Daisy paid them little attention. Her mind was in a haze, a haze made up of the bitter truth about her husband, thoughts of her father and memories of them both.

So much of her childhood was a blur, but there were things that she remembered clearly...like the day she first met George Weasley...the man who would become her father.

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-Flashback-

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_There were so many people, more people than Daisy thought she had ever seen in her whole life. But then, Diagon Alley was a different place than Greenstown. Greenstown was full of muggles and when they were there, mummy said they had to be careful to hide that they were different from others. Daisy and her mother and father were magical, and the muggles wouldn't understand. But in Diagon Alley, they could be themselves. Mummy could use her wand out on the street and there were so many others like them! Usually Daisy loved Diagon Alley...but today was different. Diagon Alley was packed to the brim with witches and wizards, so many that Daisy couldn't have begun to count them._

"_I can't hold your hand so you hold on tight to my bag, okay Daise?" Her mummy said as they left the paper shop to head back to her grandfathers office._

"_Okay mummy." Daisy said nervously as she glanced around at all the people swarming through Diagon Alley. _

_And she did hold on, so tight she thought her fingers might fall off. Then, a huge wizard came from her right and bumped into her, causing her hand to be torn from the security of her mothers bag and knocking her onto her behind. There were so many legs around her, and none of them were familiar. Daisy pushed herself to her feet and screamed out._

"_Mummy!" A panic began to grow in the pit of her stomach "MUMMY!"_

_She was bumped around on every side, like she was in the middle of a stampede of wild Crumple Horned Snorkacks from her mothers stories. _

"_MUMMY! MUMMY!" She screamed as she pushed her way out of the throng and to the sidewalk. _

_Then, she was where she was...the stairway leading to the BAD PLACE. The place her mummy had told her that she must never, ever go and she was standing RIGHT at the TOP of the stairs!_

"_Hello little one!" A very unpleasant sort of witch said as she hobbled up the stairs. "Lost your way have you?"_

_Daisy shook her head and backed away. "N...no, I'm fine."_

"_No need to lie to me deary, I can read minds you know." The ugly witch leered._

_She was so close that Daisy could smell her horrible breath. She reached out a hand._

"_NO! Leave me alone!" Daisy turned and ran back into the mass of people. She didn't stop until she came out on the other side of the street. _

_It was then she saw the brightly decorated window display. Lights flashed and sparks zoomed around adorable little fluffy pygmy puffs. In another window, fireworks sparked dazzlingly then burst into flowers and butterflies. _

_Daisy watched the show for a moment, then, she opened the door and stepped inside. A man was on a ladder putting things on the top shelves and he turned as the door closed behind her. _

"_Can I help you with something?" He said as he stepped down the ladder and back onto the floor._

"_I lost my mummy." She said softly. _

"_Do you remember where you saw her last?" Daisy had never seen anyone with eyes so kind, so unlike her fathers. He smiled and reached into his pocket for a handkerchief and mopped her face off._

_Daisy shook her head. "We were going to grandpa's office. But mummy had her hands full so she told me to hold on really tight to her bag, but, someone bumped me and my hand slipped off." _

_The man nodded and smiled again, his smile was so SO nice!_

"_Can you tell me who your grandpa is sweetheart?"_

_Sweetheart? Only her mummy and grandpa ever called her that! Daddy always ignored her, but sometimes, Daisy had heard him call her a brat, even though Daisy always did her best to be good around him._

"_Mummy says I'm not suppose to tell strangers stuff."_

"_Your mummy is absolutely right." The kind man handed her a bright yellow balloon and tied it around her wrist "I'm George Weasley, I own this shop and I would like to help you find your mummy if you'll let me. I have a little girl who's probably just about your age, I know if she was lost, I would like it if someone would help her find me or her mum again. Could you tell me your name?"_

"_My name's Daisy." She bit her lip nervously for a second. This man ...George Weasley...seemed so kind. Maybe it would be okay to let him help her. "Daisy Scamander."_

"_Nice to meet you Miss Daisy." George gave her a deep silly bow and Daisy couldn't help but giggle. "Would you like to tell me your Grandpa's name? I know most people around here."_

"_Xenophilius." She looked at him nervously. Unsure of what her mummy would want her to do. Still, she couldn't help trusting this man. "Xenophilius Lovegood."_

"_Your mummy's name is Luna isn't it?"_

_Daisy couldn't believe it! She sure had chosen the right shop to go to! "You know my mummy?"_

"_It so happens, I do. Your mum and I go way, way back a long time. And, I know your grandpa too."_

_George whistled and a moment later a huge snowy white owl landed on the counter. Daisy had never seen an owl so pretty. Daddy wouldn't let them have an owl, he said they were disgusting. _

"_This is Felix." George scribbled a note and tied it to the owl's leg. "Felix is going to take a note to your grandpa's office to let them know where to find you, okay?"_

_George sent Felix on his way, then, he lifted Daisy up and sat her on the counter. For the next five minutes he entertained her with flying whizbangs and scattering scuttleworks. By the time her mother burst through the door she was laughing.

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Daisy had been so happy when her mum and George started spending time together after that. George always made her mum smile, and he brought Daisy silly little presents and made her laugh. Daisy lost track of how many times she had wished that George Weasley was her Daddy instead of Rolf Scamander, and when Freddy had told them that her mummy and George were snogging when they were "having private time" Daisy had known for sure it wouldn't be long!

She'd was eight when her mum and George finally married and it was only a month after that that they went back to court so George could legally adopt her. He stopped being George then, he became Daddy...and Daisy hadn't called him anything else since.

Until today. Today, she didn't know what to call _him_.

Liar, deceiver...

Today, she wondered if she had ever really known George Weasley.

Daisy stopped outside the front door of Weasley Wizard Wheezes. She knew _he_ would be there, for it was Tuesday, and on Tuesdays _he_ did inventory. A part of her felt like that little lost girl again. But she also knew that today, she would find no comfort inside the brightly lit shop.

She was numb, frozen to the spot. James' words still rang harshly in her ears.

"_Robert was a lowlife Daisy and EVERYONE knows it!"_

Truth, ugly, brutal truth.

"_He was! You know what he was doing all day in the lab of his? He was creating meth. Do you know what Meth is? It is a DRUG, a DRUG that DRUG DEALERS SELL SO MUGGLES CAN GET HIGH! He tried to scam them! To run off with a bunch of their money and they killed him for it!"_

The truth _he_ had kept from her.

"_He didn't tell you, because Uncle George asked him not to." _

Daisy shook herself and pushed open the door. Like that day so many years ago, he stood on a ladder. He held a clipboard in one hand, his wand in another. He hadn't changed much in fifteen years, he was still handsome, still fit and muscular. His hair was a little thinner and receded a bit in front with a wisp of white here and there, his face now lined with deep laugh lines.

He had always been Daisy's hero, her perfect Daddy...but now all she could think of was how he had lied to her. How he had gotten Uncle Harry to lie to her.

What did that make him now?

"Hey Daise!" He said with his familiar huge smile. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Daisy didn't answer, she turned and closed the door and turned the sign from open to closed. This was a conversation that didn't need interruptions.

"That won't be good for business you know." He said with a small grin as he stepped down the ladder. "Turning the sign like that."

He smiled as he reached the floor and absently tossed the clipboard onto the counter. "You just missed your grandparents and RJ, they bought him the cutest little..."

George stopped as Daisy turned and he got a full look at her face.

"Daisy." he said as the smile slid from his face. "What's wrong?"

"You tell me George." She looked up at him, her eyes full of more pain than he had seen in years. George nearly recoiled. She hadn't called him George since she was eight years old, since the adoption went through.

"Daisy...what's..." He stopped for he had tried to take her hands and she jerked away from him and walked away.

"Okay." He said calmly "I'm not a mind reader here, so you'll have to help me out here. What's wrong."

Daisy whirled on him, her face in furious tears.

"WHY DIDN"T YOU TELL ME GEORGE!"

"Tell you..."

"You knew! All this time! You knew Robert was making drugs and you didn't tell me!" She screamed

George turned white as the color drained from his face.

"Yeah, I found out." She narrowed her eyes hatefully."So, don't bother denying it."

George slid weakly onto a stool. "I won't."

"Why didn't you tell me? Didn't you think I had a right to know what my husband was doing?"

"It's not that Daisy..."

"Oh, then thought I was too weak to handle it, is that it? Poor little Daisy, can't handle the truth. Is that it?"

George looked at her helplessly. "No, sweetheart, of course I don't think you're weak. I just...I didn't want you to hurt more than you already were."

"And you thought lying to me...getting Uncle Harry to lie to me would make it better?" She crossed her arms angrily "You made me look like a fool George! Everyone knew! Everyone but the stupid little wife! Well thanks, I just feel SO MUCH BETTER!"

"You're not stupid Daise, and no one thinks you're a fool. Look, let's not do this here. Let's go home and sit down and talk...we can..." George stood up and tried to take her hands but she jerked them away again.

"Thanks but no." She pulled out her wand. "I may be an idiot, but I can get home on my own."

"Daise..."

Before George could say another word...she had gone.

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Luna took a deep breath and knocked on Daisy's door. Her daughter had appeared home just ahead of her husband, and after an hour of steady knocking on George's part, he had settled himself in the den with his head buried in his hands.

Now, it was Luna's turn.

"Daisy, open up."

"Go away!" Daisy yelled

Luna felt a small shudder. This reminded her a little too much of her first marriage, when Daisy had hid in her bedroom closet and Luna had to vanish the closet doors to get in. But, if that was what it took.

"Daisy, don't make me vanish the door."

"You wouldn't dare." Daisy challenged.

"Don't bet the farm on it Daise."

Luna waited another minute, then pulled out her wand. She had just raised it when the door clicked and opened.

"You _were_ going to vanish my door!" Daisy accused

Luna shrugged with a small smile. "Told you not to bet the farm."

Daisy rolled her eyes and turned away to flop back onto her bed. Luna stepped in and closed the door behind her.

"Your father is miserable you know." Luna said as she sat on the side of the bed and put a hand out to stroke Daisy's hair.

"What father? I don't have a father."

"Daisy May Weasley, you know don't mean that."

"I don't know anything anymore mum." Daisy whimpered "I don't know who I am, I don't know who George is...and I certainly don't know who the hell I just spent the last four years of my life married to."

"You're my Daisy, always have been, and always will be. As for the rest..."

"What about the rest mum?" Daisy said as she sat up. "How can HE still be my father? He lied to me, he got others to lie to me!"

"Daisy, have you forgotten what it was like when Robert first died?" Luna looked at her with incredibly solemn eyes "Your father and I were afraid for you, afraid that you were going to fall apart. You weren't eating or sleeping. The only thing you were able to do was care for RJ, otherwise, you were barely functioning. George was afraid of what the truth would do to you."

"Did you know?" Daisy asked, her eyes pleading for a negative answer. "Did you know the truth about Robert?"

"No." Luna shook her head "Not until tonight."

"Would you have kept the truth from me?"

Luna shrugged "I don't know. I'd like to think I wouldn't have. But, I might have if I had seen what your father did when he went to Scotland."

"He lied to me."

"He was trying to protect you. He's been protecting us for so long now, I think he just acts without thinking sometimes."

Daisy sighed as a dim memory flashed in her mind. George and a man fighting, and George trying to protect her mother from the man.

"He protected us from _him_ didn't he?" Daisy bit her lip "My birth father."

"Oh yes." Luna nodded and took Daisy's hands in hers. "Yes. He protected us from him many, many times."

"Why did he hate us so much mummy?" Daisy said softly as her eyes filled with more tears.

Luna looked alarmed. "What?"

"Why did Rolf Scamander hate us so much?"

"Oh no." Luna shook her head "No Daise, Rolf didn't hate us. In his way, Rolf loved us. He loved us both."

"Then why..."

"Because somebody hurt him very badly when he was a little boy." Luna sighed sadly as she thought about Rolf

"I always thought it was my fault!" Daisy said as she fell into her mothers arms. "I thought he hurt you because he hated me, that if had never been born..."

"No! Daisy...no!" Luna hugged Daisy fiercely, as if by holding on tightly she could squeeze out all the pain. "People don't abuse others because they are bad, its something they learn. Somebody hurt Rolf very very badly, they made him feel like he was worthless, and that it was okay to hurt the people you loved. People aren't born abusive Daise, abuse is a horrible, viscous circle."

Luna sighed deeply and pulled away, she pulled her legs up under her chin. "I've been waiting for a long time for you to ask about when I went to see Rolf before he died, but you never have."

"I don't like thinking about him." Daisy said simply

Luna nodded "I know you don't. But, I've always wondered why that was."

"Because..."Daisy sniffled "I guess I thought you didn't want to talk about it."

"I don't mind talking about Rolf, and I am very glad I went to see him before he died. It made me understand so many things."

Daisy shook her head "I can't believe Daddy let you go."

Luna sighed, a small smile coming to her face. George was Daddy once again...things were going to be okay.

"No, he didn't like it much. But your father has never been big on control."

Daisy opened her mouth to protest but Luna shushed her.

"You know as well as I, his not telling you wasn't about control young lady."

Daisy nodded and looked away. "What happened, when you went to see Rolf."

"He told me lots of things, things that made the whole mess make sense."

Daisy looked back at her mother, curiosity building inside her despite her resolve to be indifferent to anything regarding her birth father.

"He told me about how he was jealous of me, of all the attention I got because of the things that happened during the war against you-know-who. How cruel people said things that made him feel unworthy of being married to me, and how he turned that around into anger towards me."

"But, mum, that doesn't make sense." Daisy looked confused "It wasn't your fault...why should he be angry with you?"

"Sometimes, pain makes people think foolish things." Luna said simply. "It makes them blame others for their inadequacies, for their weaknesses and pain. Sometimes, it makes about vent their anger on people they love. Isn't that really why you're so angry with your father? Because it's easier to be angry with him for keeping the truth from you, than it is for you to be angry with Robert for the things he did?"

Daisy looked at Luna weakly, not yet ready to admit that she was right.

"You never liked Robert, did you?"

"I didn't like the way he talked to you." Luna admitted "And sometimes, I worried that he might be hurting you."

"Like Rolf did you."

Luna nodded "Yes."

"He never hurt me, not like that...not like Rolf did you." Daisy shook her head

"But he hurt you inside, and that is just as bad. Worse even." she sighed and picked up her daughters hands again. "Words have tremendous power Daisy. Words can put you on top of the world, words can plunge you into the deepest pits of hell. They have the power to make you smile, to make you cry" Luna paused as she remembered a long ago winter night, the night her husband had nearly killed himself. "Words have the power even to make you long for death."

"Oh mum!" Daisy fell back into her mothers arms, her body wracked by horrible sobs. "I wanted to tell you so many times!"

"I know baby, I know." Luna held her, and as she did, she remembered holding her husband the same way as he too sobbed out his own pain.

"It hurt so much...the things he said!" She whimpered "But I...I couldn't tell you. I remembered! All the horrible things HE used to say to you! And I told myself when I married, it would be different, that I would never be like you."

"It's okay Daise..."

"No its not!" Daisy pulled away "It's not mum, I thought I was better than you! More clever! I thought I was clever enough that I would never marry someone like that! But I wasn't, I was..."

"Oh Daisy. Being clever has nothing to do with it." Luna reached out a hand and touched her daughters cheek. "Don't you know...people who are abused are more likely to marry abusive people? I fell in because of things that happened to me during the war, and you fell in because of your father. It has nothing to do with being clever. Were human Daisy, humans make mistakes. The important thing is that we learn from them so we don't make them again."

But now something else occurred to Daisy, something that made her blood run cold. "Mum...do you think...i mean...this circle thing, does it mean that RJ is going to grow up and abuse his wife?"

"RJ is very young." Luna sighed, unsure what to say. "But to be honest, I don't know. Perhaps, you should see a mind healer."

"A mind healer? Really mum!"

"Daisy, there is no shame in needing help. You know that your father and I both saw one after our divorces, and you know Annie and Freddy saw child specialists."

Daisy nodded, she had forgotten. "Mum...how do you know that he wasn't lying. Rolf I mean, when he said that he loved us."

Luna sighed and stood. She left the room for a moment and returned a moment later, then handed Daisy a old torn photograph of the two of them. Daisy had been only five when the picture was taken shortly before her mother and she left Greenstown for good.

"It's us, you and me."

Luna nodded "Yes. When Rolf died, it was the only thing he had left in the world."

"It must have hurt him." Daisy said sadly "Dying all alone."

"It did." Luna said reasonably "But, he did bring it on himself."

"It's weird mum. I almost wish I could have done something for him."

"Me too." She nodded "But Rolf is gone sweetheart, and I think he found peace in death. However, there is someone you can help. There is someone downstairs who is hurting an awful lot right now."

Daisy sighed sadly "Daddy."

"Yes, daddy." Luna kissed her cheek and then left, closing the door behind her.

Daisy sat back against the headboard, her eyes on the photograph again. He may have loved her, but Rolf Scamander had never been a proper father to her. Only one man had ever been that. Deep in the haze of her memories, Daisy remembered a night fifteen years before...the night that George Weasley had come to their house in Greenstown.

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-Flashback-

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"_I'm taking Daisy with me." He said as he pulled his wand from his pocket "We'll finish this at home."_

"_NO!" Daisy screamed as her little body flooded with fear "Mummy! Mummy!"_

"_Shut up Daisy!" He yelled so loud it made her ears hurt._

"_Rolf...no. Please!" Luna pleaded. "Let me take her..."_

"_Mummy...MUMMY!" Daisy screamed and then she was gone as Rolf apparated away with her._

_They landed a moment later in the house in Greenstown. Daisy wriggled to be set free and Rolf dropped her roughly on the sofa._

"_Get the fuck out of my face you little snot!" He yelled as Daisy ran from the room. Safe in her room she hid in her closet and tucked her toy Firebolt into place, holding the doors shut._

_A moment later the door vanished and Daisy screamed...but it was Mummy._

"_Daisy." Luna said as she wrapped her tightly in her arms "It's okay sweetheart."_

"_Mummy...lets go...let's go back to Grandpa's!"_

"_We will sweetie, in a little..."_

"_There you are bitch! Took you long enough"_

_Luna let Daisy go as she was wrenched away by the hair and dragged out of the room._

"_Stay in here Daisy! Don't come out no matter what!" Luna yelled as the door was slammed shut. Daisy went back to her closet, wrapped her arms around her legs and rocked back and forth, her hands over her ears trying to drown out the sound of her fathers voice._

"_You were fucking him today! Tell the truth you fucking whore!"_

"_No Rolf... I wasn't!"_

"_DONT. FUCKING. LIE. TO. ME. YOU. FUCKING. CUNT!"_

"_Oh god...no, Rolf, Please NO!"_

"_Crucio!"_

_Daisy shook as her mothers screams filled the air along with the sound of shattering glass. _

"_You're never gonna learn, are you bitch!"_

"_Rolf, please..."_

"_Crucio!"_

_For nearly half an hour Daisy sat huddled in the closet, listening to her mothers screams as she was tortured under the Cruciatus curse. _

_A door slammed, then, everything went deathly quiet. _

_Quietly as possible she tip toed down the hallway. Her mother sat in the middle of the floor amid broken glass and torn sofa pillows. An arm hung limply at her side, her face bloody and bruised, her clothes torn. _

_She watched silently as her mother healed the bruises and her arm, then, she repaired her clothes and set about repairing the sofa cushions. She had just laid out a vase, a vase Daisy recognized as her great-grandmothers, when she dared to speak. _

"_Mummy?" she said fearfully as she stood in the entrance to the hallway, glancing quickly about to be sure that her father had really gone._

"_It's okay sweetheart, you can come out now."_

_Daisy stepped out of the doorway and crossed the room while Luna waved her wand over the vase, putting it right._

"_Daddy broke grandma Lovegood's vase."_

"_It's okay." Luna smiled and waved her wand over the vase, then she held it up for Daisy to see "See, I fixed it."_

_Luna stood and kissed Daisy on the head, then she stepped to the table, righted the lace doily and put the vase back in its place._

"_Is Daddy going to come back?" Daisy asked softly._

_Luna smiled, righted a sofa cushion and sat down, patting her knees for Daisy to join her. When Daisy was cuddled in her arms she smiled and kissed her cheek._

"_Of course Daddy's going to come back. Doesn't he always?"_

_Daisy started to cry. "I don't want him to come back!"_

"_Daisy!" Luna looked at her, shocked "You don't mean that."_

"_I do! Daddy's mean!"_

"_Daisy..."_

_Then, the knock came...and it was George. Daisy was so happy to see him, yet afraid at the same time that her father would return and hurt George too, like he had hurt her mummy. But as always, George came with that smile of his, and eyes so kind that Daisy couldn't help but feel happy. _

"_Hi George" She waved happily, her face spreading into a wide, bright smile "How come you're at my house?"_

"_I came to see you." He bent low over the back of the sofa, pulling a something from his pockets as he did. "And I brought you something."_

"_What! What!" Daisy jumped up and down excitedly. _

_George put both of his closed fists out in front of her. "Pick a hand."_

_Daisy giggled and gently touched the top of his right hand. George turned his hand over, slowly opening his fingers. A burst of butterflies flew from his palm and circled her head, then exploded into pink and purple fireworks. _

"_Ohhh!" She exclaimed. "Pretty!"_

_Her eyes went to the hand that was still closed, her finger on her lip...wondering._

"_George...is something in your other hand?"_

"_Hmmm..." He pretended to be thinking, "I don't know. Why don't you see?"_

_Daisy reached her hand out, gently touching his. George turned it over and released his fingers. At first all that sat in his palm was a tiny blue ball, then it began to spark, there was a puff of blue smoke and when it cleared, a tiny handful of paper daisies lay in his palm._

"_For me?" Daisy whispered._

"_Well..." George grinned and ruffled her bangs. "Who else would I bring daisies to?"_

"_Thank you!" Daisy smiled hugely as she picked up the tiny handful of flowers. "Thank you very, very much!"_

"_Daisy." Luna smiled. "Why don't you take them to your room and put them in your special place?"_

"_Okay!" Daisy giggled and gave George a kiss on the cheek before jumping off the sofa and running into her room. _

_A little while later, George and her mum came into her room. Her mum had a garbage bag and she started piling everything of Daisy's she could into it. George took the bag and apparated away, then, he came back and took two more bags full of her mothers stuff. She watched her mother pack a box full of things and hide it away under a loose floorboard in Daisy's closet. Then, George picked her up, hugging her gently in his strong arms. The feeling was so unlike the way her father had held her hours before that Daisy wanted to cry.

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-End Flashback-

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He'd apparated them to the flat above his shop in Diagon Alley and Daisy had never gone back to the house in Greenstown...at least not until that horrible night when Rolf Scamander had come to her grandfathers, hurt grandpa and took Daisy away for the last time.

George had been there that night too. It seemed as if every time Rolf Scamander had hurt her, George had been there to pick up the pieces. But it went beyond Rolf Scamander. George was her Daddy, and her Daddy had always been there for her. Daddy who had been there when she got her first wand, had come to every single one of her Quidditch matches, and had cheered her on, even when Ravenclaw had been playing Gryffindor. It was Daddy who always listened when she needed someone to vent to about Freddy and James fighting, and Daddy who helped her when she was having trouble with her spellwork.

It was also Daddy who had dropped everything and flew to Scotland right off when Robert had been killed, even though it had meant closing the shop. He had stayed with her for two weeks straight, and flew in after that every week to check in on her while the muggle police were giving her a hard time. Daddy had gone with her when she flew with Roberts body back to Wales, and made all the funeral arrangements so Daisy wouldn't have to.

And, it was Daddy who sat up with her night after night while she sobbed out her grief, Daddy who had suggested she leave Scotland and come back to her family where she belonged.

It was always, always, Daddy.

"Daisy?"

George's soft voice came to her through the door and she stood, opened the door and threw herself into his arms.

"I'm sorry Daddy! I'm so, so, sorry!"

"It's okay sweetheart." he said soothingly

"No it's not." Daisy pulled away and took his hand, pulling him in to sit on the side of her bed. "I was horrible to you...and, I'm so sorry!"

"It's okay Daise." George laughed and put an arm around her "One apology will do it."

"I don't think so Daddy." Daisy said as she leaned against him and rested her head against his shoulder.

"You were right, it was wrong of me to keep the truth from you." He sighed deeply

"True that." Daisy nodded "You should have told me, I'm not a little girl anymore you know."

He sighed again and took a deep breath, then let it out slowly "It's very hard for me you know, sometimes, I still see you as that little lost girl who wandered into my shop."

Daisy looked at him and smiled "But I'm not."

"I know, I know." He grinned "But, its a fathers instinct, to protect his children. I've been protecting you for so long now, since the day I first met you I reckon. You can't expect me to stop now."

"I was thinking just now, about the night you came to Greenstown."

George winced, he hated thinking about that time, the time before he had convinced Luna to leave Rolf Scamander. He had long suspected that Luna had been beaten that night, and now he feared he was about to get confirmation of his suspicions.

"You saved us Daddy, me and mum." Daisy wiped a tear away "You were my hero."

"I was only doing what was right." He smiled, a small blush tinging his cheeks.

"No, I don't think so." Daisy shook her head "Your the best person I know. The best Daddy in the world."

"Even if I am over protective to the point of lying?"

"I don't reckon you lied, not really." Daisy shrugged "You should have told me Dad, I had a right to know. But, I understand now why you didn't."

"You're still my little girl Daisy May, you will _always_ be my little girl." He smiled, and Daisy felt a rush of warmth to her heart. His smile was still so warm, his eyes so kind. "And I will always want to protect you."

"I know Daddy." Daisy smiled back and kissed his cheek "That's why you are still my hero."

George felt a tear fall down his cheek as he pulled his Daisy close and hugged her tightly in his arms.

* * *

- - -

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Daisy stood in front of an unkempt headstone, the grass was long around it and the stone was cracked and dirty.

Gayrolfe Marion Scamander

Born-October 12 1980

Died-July 16 2014

A part of her was unsure why she had come, why she felt she had to do this, she was just thankful that she hadn't had to come alone. As always, her Daddy was by her side.

"I had to come and see you." She said softly as she lay a small bouquet of forget-me-nots by the headstone. "I have to tell you something...something I couldn't say when you were alive."

She stopped and took a deep breath.

"You were never my father. A father is suppose to love his family, to take care of them and keep them safe. A father is suppose to be like the man who is here with me right now, the man who has _always_ been with me...my Daddy.

"You hurt us, me and Mummy, you hurt us really bad and you're still hurting me now. But, I'm not going to let you anymore. I wanted you to know that I know you hurt us because someone hurt you and I am so sorry that you were hurt. I wanted you to know that I know you loved us and I know it wasn't all your fault...so...I forgive you. I forgive you for hurting me and Mummy and, I hope it's like she said, that you've found peace in death. I'm going to say goodbye now, I'm going to let you go forever so I can go on with my life."

She closed her eyes and whispered softly. "Goodbye Rolf."

Daisy took a deep breath and opened her eyes, then, she reached for George's hand and smiled up at him.

"I'm done here. Let's go home Daddy."

George smiled at her and put his arm around her, then, he lead her out of the cemetery.

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Chapter Five Preview

Daisy visits James again...

Can they clear the air, or will it be goodbye?

The conclusion to Correcting Mistakes II: Daisy's Choice

Coming Soon!

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-Please review! PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE!  


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	5. James

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-Disclaimer: Harry Potter is the property of JK Rowling

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-So, here it is, final chapter! I said from the outset that this wasn't going to be a very long story, and, so it isn't!

Not sure when I will get to the other unfinished stuff as I will be starting Nanowrimo on Sunday, the national challenge to write an original novel in 30 days! If you would like more information on Nanowrimo, look at my profile, I will be putting up a link! Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy the conclusion to Correcting Mistakes II: Daisy's Choice.

Please review! I feel kinda sad that this has only gotten 9 reviews so far!

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Correcting Mistakes II: Daisy's Choice

Chapter Five

James

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Nearly a week had passed since Daisy had visited the grave of Rolf Scamander. Things had quieted down considerably in the Weasley household for all four of the younger Weasley's had gone off to school. The first night they had been gone George had sighed miserably as he looked around at his empty dinner table, even RJ was gone again, "kidnapped" by Annie for the week to give her a little first hand experience before her own bundle arrived in April.

Daisy woke the morning three days after their departure, still unaccustomed to the unnatural quiet. As usual, a single face swam behind her closed eyes. A face with light brown eyes and a warm smile.

They had left things so ugly between them the week before, and Daisy had been itching to go see him to put things right. Still, she hadn't been able to bring herself to go. It was her fault that things were the way they were. Her denial of Roberts true nature that had led to James revelations of Roberts illegal activities, and now, Daisy had learned that he had been suspended...something else that was entirely her fault. How could she possibly face him?

Daisy was finding herself at loose ends a lot lately. She was only twenty one, her whole life was still ahead of her, and yet, she had no idea what to do with it. Her mother had been hinting about her coming on at the Quibbler as an assistant editor. Luna was getting older and she would welcome a little more free time. Daddy too had offered a job running one of his shops if she wanted, Lee had been hinting quite loudly lately about stepping down from running the Hogsmeade shop to have more time to spend with Angelina.

Daisy had no idea what she wanted to do. She reckoned she should take her mothers offer, after all, before he died, Grandpa Xenophilius had told Daisy that one day, the Quibbler would be hers, it was Daisy's birth right as Luna's first born. And someday, Daisy WANTED to take over the legacy. She just wasn't sure if now was that that time.

So much seemed up in the air, so much unsettled and it wasn't as if she had to work. Her grandfather had left her a great deal of money, and, as the only living Scamander heir, she received royalties on her great-grandfather's famous book _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. _Over the years that money had been kept in trust for her and it had accumulated into a nice little next egg. Enough that she would never have to work if she didn't want to...not that was the case...not even close.

Deep down, Daisy knew it wasn't her career or lack thereof that was making her feel unsettled. It was her personal life, or rather one person in particular.

With a frustrated sigh, Daisy pushed the covers away and reached for her robe. She pulled it on as she hit the stairs. As always, she felt comfort in knowing that Daddy was downstairs, it was Saturday and she knew she would find him sitting in the breakfast nook poured over his books, like always.

But it wasn't George that she found.

"Freddy!" She said as she rushed forward to hug him "What are you doing here?"

"Nice greeting Daise." He teased "Thanks."

Daisy laughed and gave him a gentle swat. "You know what I mean. I was expecting to find Daddy with his head buried in those books of his, not you."

"I know." He said, getting to his feet so he towered over her. He put his hand on the top of the refrigerator and leaned in close...the stance so familiar it made Daisy's heart weep with happiness. She knew what he was going to say, long before the words left his mouth. "How YOU doin Daise?"

Daisy laughed and pushed him away, shaking her head. "I'm fine Freddy, and Sylvia never should have let you get that satellite dish. That American television has turned your mind to mush."

Freddy chuckled and poured a cup of tea before sliding back behind the table. "I know, but, I have to have something to keep me occupied." he wiggled his eyebrows "Witchy Wiggins went out of first run ten years ago."

Daisy laughed and sat down across from him. "And we are ALL thanking merlin to this day."

"Hey, Witchy Wiggins...."

"Was hot, yes, only heard that about three million times now, thanks. Mind sparing us three million and one?"

"If I must." Freddy said, looking greatly put upon.

"So, are you going to tell me where Daddy is and why you are here?"

"Well..." Freddy winced "Dad's at Annie's."

Daisy looked up in alarm, she was quite aware that Annie had been avoiding their father like the plague.

"I was there helping Matt install those new windows, and Annie went to take RJ for a walk to the store...Honeydukes of all places."

Daisy rolled her eyes. Between her grandparents, parents and the aunts and uncles, by the time she actually saw her son again he was going to be incredibly spoiled.

"Yeah, I see your impressed." Freddy laughed a little. "Anyway, she realized that Luna hadn't packed his jacket, so, she sent me down for it."

"Say no more." Daisy rolled her eyes. Her father had been just itching for an excuse to go to Annie's to talk some sense into her.

"Poor Annie."

"Yes, I imagine they should be rowing quite well by now." Freddy looked at his watch. "But really, I'd be more likely to say 'Poor Dad.' You seem to have forgotten Annie's temper."

"Poor Matt's more like it." Daisy smirked a little "Knowing Daddy, he skipped Annie and went right to him, and, knowing Annie..."

"Exactly. As you may have reasoned by now, I am in no hurry to return to the ugliness."

"Don't blame you." Daisy stood and went to the refrigerator and pulled out a package of cinnamon buns. She put them on a plate, waved her wand over them to warm them, then got two saucers and butter from the fridge and returned to the table.

"Umm..."Freddy hesitated "Who made these, you or your mum?"

"Me of course, you ever known mum to be able to bake without the fire department being involved?"

Freddy breathed a sigh of relief. His step mother was a wonderful woman, sweet, funny, beautiful, and incredibly warm and loving. She had always treated Freddy and Annie as if they were her own. But Luna had one fatal flaw...she was deadly in the kitchen.

"So it skipped a generation..." Freddy said as he helped himself to a cinnamon bun and slathered it with a generous amount of butter. "This hopelessness in the kitchen?"

"Mummy never had anyone to teach her." Daisy said matter of factly "I had Daddy and Grandma."

"I heard you and Dad had quite a row last week."

Daisy took a deep breath and nodded "Heard did you?"

"Yeah, Poppy and Iris have big mouths, you know that."

"Did they tell you what it was about?"

Freddy's ears turned red.

"Damned extendable ears." Daisy rolled her eyes.

"I don't think they really understood what it was about, if that helps. They were just repeating words." He looked at her seriously "You can tell me if you like."

Daisy sighed and went into the short version of Roberts drug dealings, and the fact that George had talked Harry into keeping it from her.

"Wow." he said when she finished "I don't blame you for being angry."

Daisy nodded "I was, at the time...but, now...I guess I understand."

"Dad's always been like that with you, you know." Freddy smiled "I mean, he has always been over protective with all of us, but you were different. You went through so much more than Annie and I did when your mom and birth father divorced."

"You knew too?" Daisy looked surprised "About my mum and Rolf Scamander?"

"Oh yes." Freddy nodded his head, his face suddenly pale. "I remember. Annie and I were supposed to be sleeping, but we had been trying to stay awake...we'd been hoping Dad might have sent treats like he sometimes did. We sneaked out into the hallway and we heard mum, crying something horrible, telling Lee that _he_ had hurt your mum _really_ bad, and that _he_ had taken you."

Freddy stopped and ran a hand over his hair.

"Me and Annie were both scared, Annie started to cry. I think she felt really bad then, for the things she said to you that time. Mum heard us and she called us into the room. She let us stay up until Uncle Ron's owl came, letting us know that you were both okay."

Freddy stopped and smiled, reaching across the table for her hands.

"We both saw it you know, how much happier dad was when he was with your mum. Even though it was hard for us, not being a family anymore, we wanted Dad to be happy."

"I wanted mum to be happy too" Daisy sighed "and George...Daddy always made her laugh."

They were quiet for a moment, both thinking about the past.

"So, that's the past." Freddy said simply "Over and done with. The question is...what now?"

"I've been wondering that myself actually." Daisy sighed "Thing is, I don't know. So much of what I thought my life was has turned out to be a lie."

"No Daise, you're still talking about the past. I mean, what are you going to do now, what are you going to do with your future?"

"That's just it!" She bit her lip, determined not to cry anymore. "I don't know! I don't...how do I know where to go, when I don't even really know where I have been? Where do I go from here?"

"I think you know." Freddy smiled and it hit Daisy really for the first time, how much his smile was like their fathers. "I think you've always known Daise, you just haven't gone there because something..._someone_...was standing in your way."

"Freddy..."

"Your heart has been there for fifteen years Daisy. Since you were both five years old. Can you honestly tell me, you wouldn't have married James if not for me?"

Daisy opened her mouth to protest, but found she couldn't. It was true. If not for the fact that she refused to hurt Freddy...she would have chosen James.

"I'm sorry." She whispered

"Don't be." He covered her hand again "It's not your fault. I was so selfish. I knew from the first time I saw you and James together that there was something special between you."

He stopped and took a deep breath "Do you remember, the summer Dad built the house? When James came to stay while Lily was being born?"

Daisy nodded, she could never forget that summer...the fighting between James and Freddy had been epic family lore since.

"You remember then, the big swing...and me and James, fighting over who got to push you."

"Oh yes, I remember." Daisy said with a small smile. "You began to tussle and I got pushed off the swing and got a bloody nose."

"Right. I ran and hid, scared of the whooping that I knew Dad was going to give me for hurting you. But James sat by you, he held you hand while you cried, and he was crying too...not because he was in trouble, but because he had done something to hurt you." Freddy shook his head

"I should have realized then...James was the better man. The two of you together...you had..._have_... a kind of...magic. The same kind of magic my mum has with Lee, and Dad has with Luna. I never understood it, what it was like to have something like that...until I met Sylvia. She's my magic..."

Freddy smiled and looked deeply into her eyes "Just like James, is your's."

"He hates me..." Daisy said weakly, realizing just how true it was.

"Daisy, don't be daft. James could never hate you."

"I don't know what to do Freddy." Daisy wiped her face on a napkin "What do I do, where do I go?"

"You do what your heart has been telling you to do all this time." He smiled and put an arm around her. "James has been waiting all these years, since you were five years old." He stopped and took a deep breath.

"I think maybe, he's waited long enough."

* * *

- - -

* * *

Daisy stood nervously wringing her hands by the glass patio doors that led to the Potters back yard. Just on the other side of the glass sat James in a white wicker chair, his eyes fixed on the full moon.

"Did you have to suspend him Uncle Harry?" She said softly to the only other person in the room. "I mean, that can't be making his mood any better...maybe if you go out and un-suspend him..."

Harry chuckled softly "Sorry sweetie, it doesn't work like that. James broke a major rule, he needs to learn to control his temper, or he won't have learned a thing."

"But, it was partly my fault too." She shook her head "If I hadn't been denying what Robert was like..."

"Don't blame yourself Daisy. James is a big boy, and he knew the situation. He should never have broken confidentiality."

Daisy turned her head and gave him a look, a look that reminded Harry eerily of the look Luna used to give them when they challenged her beliefs in rare mystical creatures.

"Let's get one thing straight Uncle Harry." She raised her eyebrow, making the resemblance even more uncanny "There should never have been any confidentiality to be begin with."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Point taken." He pulled his face into an irresistible pout "Am I forgiven?"

"Of course." Daisy relaxed her face and kissed his cheek, then went back to staring out the window.

"He won't bite Daise." Harry said softly in her ear "You should go talk to him."

"Its not his biting that I am afraid of."

"I know." Harry sighed "But, waiting isn't going to make it easier. So...how about I help you out with that?"

"What do you..."

Before she could stop him, Harry had turned the handle on the door and swung it open.

"James." He said cheerily. "Look who's come to see you."

James shot up from his chair as Daisy glowered at her Uncle. Harry gave her a wink. "I'll be inside if you need me."

"You've done quite enough already." Daisy said with a dangerous smile on her face. "I couldn't possibly ask anything else of you."

"Well..." Harry grinned again as he stepped inside"Alright then...play nice."

The door closed and Daisy turned around in time to see James slide wordlessly back into his chair. She took a deep breath and walked towards him, then sat in a chair next to him.

"James..."

"What do you want Daisy?" His voice was sad, more sad than Daisy could remember ever hearing it. "You've already gotten me suspended, so, what more do you want."

Daisy gave him the same look she had recently given the elder Potter. "Actually, I believe you got yourself suspended. So, I'll thank you not to blame me for the repercussions of your actions."

James rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

"James, you were the only one who told me the truth, and I am so thankful for that. So, I am sorry you got in trouble for it."

He was quiet for a long, long time before he spoke.

"So, you do admit blame."

"No!" Daisy narrowed her eyes "I just said..."

"Hell Daisy, you can't even take a joke anymore." Daisy looked closer...James was grinning, just a little, bit it was a grin just the same. "I know it wasn't your fault. It was mine, I never should have told you...at least...not like that, not that way."

"I'm glad that you did. I never would have known otherwise."

"Daise, Dad, and Uncle George...they never meant to hurt you...they..."

Daisy closed her eyes and nodded. "I know. It was all about protecting me. I know. It seems a blur now...the weeks after Robert died. I was in horrible shape, I could barely take care of RJ, much less myself. The muggle police were making accusations...accusing me of being involved in drugs too. If I had known what Robert had been up to...what he had really been doing...I hate to think what might have happened."

James slid up and sat on the end of his chair. "No, Daisy, your stronger than that...stronger than they...than even you think you are."

"On the outside maybe. But, inside...inside I am still that little girl hiding in a closet." She looked up at him "James...what you said last week, about Robert, and how he treated me. It was true, all of it. I was in denial for so long, had denied to everyone so often, that I couldn't even admit the truth to myself.

"I never understood why...why my mother stayed with my birth father for so long. I always told myself, that would never be me. I would never, ever, be with someone like that. I guess in a way I looked down on her, for being fool enough to stay. Maybe I even blamed her a little. After thinking that way for so long...how could I admit to anyone, least of all myself, that I had married someone who was like _him_? I thought I was to blame for everything. For Rolf being the way he was, for Robert being how he was. I thought it was me...some horrible flaw inside me ..."

"But...Daise...it;'s not like that. Abuse, it's..."

"I know...I understand now." She took a deep breath and let it out slowly "Somebody hurt Robert, somebody made him how he was long before I ever met him. I don't know who that was, and to be honest...I don't care. All that matters is that I know it wasn't me."

James took her hands in his. "Of course it wasn't. Daisy, you are the most wonderful person I know. Robert...Robert was a fool."

"Well..." Daisy lifted her head and smiled "Maybe someday, I will believe that. It's just...right now..."

"I know, I understand."

"He was a hard man James, he was cold and uncaring. He wasn't even warmed by RJ...what kind of man doesn't feel warmth toward his own child?"

"A man who isn't a man?"

"A man like Rolf Scamander." Daisy whispered "God James...after all I went through, all the pain I saw my mum suffer...I married a man just like _him_. What does that say about me?"

James put his arms around her and pulled her close. Daisy lay her head on his chest, allowing his heartbeat to calm her.

"It means that you're human, and maybe...you need someone to talk to, someone who can help you sort all this out."

"A mind healer." Daisy nodded "That's what mum said too."

"I always did think Aunt Luna was pretty clever...and you know what they say about great minds..."

"Will you come with me?" She whispered, a quiet desperation twinging in her voice. "I don't think I can go if I have to go alone."

"Of course I will."

"I knew you would." She said softly and put her arms around him "You're always here for me James, always, always, always."

"It's always been you Daisy, there's never been anyone else for me. No one else who ever made me feel the way I feel when I am with you. I've loved you since we were five years old." He said softly as he stroked her hair gently. He bent his head and brushed his lips over her forehead.

Daisy wept into his chest "I love you too James. But I'm afraid...afraid of what that means. I want to be with you, but...I can't, not right now...and I don't know when I will be able to."

"I'll wait." He said simply

"What if you get tired of waiting? What if you leave?"

"I'll never leave you" He looked deeply into her eyes, his own offering a solemn and sincere promise."Ever. "

"Do you mean it? You'll wait for me?"

"I'd wait for you forever if that's what it took to have you in my life for even five minutes." He held her tighter and kissed her softly on the lips. "I'm yours Daisy, I always have been. I'll be here when you're ready. Until then...I'm still your best friend, always."

Daisy sighed and snuggled closer. A best friend....right now, that was what she truly needed. The rest...

...she'd trust her heart to decide when the time was right.

* * *

-Epilogue

-Eighteen Months Later

* * *

"So, you ready for this?" Annie asked as she stared into Daisy's eyes via the reflection of the huge mirror in grandma Weasley's bedroom. Daisy's smile was huge, radiant. "I've been ready for this since..."

"Yeah, yeah, since you were five years old." Annie laughed and pulled a curl into place, then held it in place with a crystal hairpin.

"You know, given that fact that I am sharing my day with you, I should think you would be kind enough to not make fun of me in return."

Annie sat down on the bench and rolled her eyes. "If it were up to me, I wouldn't be doing this at all."

"I know, but, look at the bright side, your not only gaining a husband, but a house as well."

Annie patted her huge stomach. "Well, the way our not so little family keeps growing, the more room the better."

"I still can't believe it." Daisy shook her head "Triplets, and the twins aren't even a year old yet!"

"I know, I told Matt if he ever comes near me again, I am going to rip it off."

"Mommy Mommy Mommy!" RJ burst through the door and jumped into Daisy's lap, Grandpa on his heels. "Grandpas gonna get me!"

"Ooof!" Daisy let out of woof of air as he hit her hard in the stomach "RJ! Sweetie,remember what mummy told you?"

"Sorry mummy." RJ climbed out of her lap, then put his mouth by her stomach where a slight bulge was apparent under the off white silk. "Sorry baby."

"He had to remind me." George grumbled from the doorway

"Get over it daddy." Annie rolled her eyes. "We caved didn't we? Getting married and all that?"

"Well, you caved." Daisy grinned "I wanted to get married. Just...something beat us to the altar."

"Did it ever occur to _either _of you to wait until you were married to...to..." George blushed as he plopped into a chair by the window.

"To what Daddy?" Daisy asked with a mischievous smile

"Does he mean to HAVE SEX?" Annie supplied.

"You two are so funny, a real riot." George narrowed his eyes." Let's see if your laughing when you give the old man a heart attack and put me in St. Mungo's. Then who will walk you down the aisle?"

Daisy and Annie looked at one another and grinned. "Grandpa?" They said in unison.

"Really dad." Annie rolled her eyes "You mean to tell me, all the times we caught you and Luna snogging...and you two waited until you were married to get horizontal?"

Daisy laughed so hard she snorted.

"Annie...I'm warning you..." George was now as red as the rose he wore on the collar of his robes.

"Come on Daddy...tell the truth..." Daisy said, her voice ringing with giggles.

"Stop teasing your father." The girls turned to find Luna and Angelina standing in the doorway. "He's got quite enough to be going on about."

"Speaking of sex." Annie said with a wink at Luna"Is your condition one of the things Daddy has to be going on with?"

Luna sat down with a woof and rubbed her gigantic tummy. "I'll let you know in another three weeks smarty britches."

"Mummy?" RJ asked innocently from the corner "Whats Sex?"

"Thanks Annie." Daisy rolled her eyes

"Your welcome." Annie grinned cheekily

"What is it?" RJ asked again.

"That sweetheart, is something that I will let James about tell you ten years from now."

"Grandma...Grandpa..guess what? James is going to be my Daddy, right mummy!" RJ asked excitedly, bouncing up and down on the toes of his brand new dress shoes.

"We heard." George mumbled disagreeably as Luna elbowed him in the ribs.

"Yes he is." Daisy shot her father a warning look as she kissed the tip of RJ's nose. "Pretty soon now."

She smiled, thinking about the stack of paperwork sitting on her desk, just waiting for them to take them to the family affairs office that would turn Robert Jardin Hollingsworth into Robert Jardin Potter first thing on Monday morning.

It was something they ALL looked forward to.

But first...

* * *

- - -

* * *

"Your father keeps glaring at me." James said as he glided over the dance floor with his new wife.

"I'm not so sure it's you." Daisy said with a small smile "Annie and I were taking the mickey just before the wedding...I think he's still burning a little from that."

"He's angry that I got you pregnant."

"Well, there's that, yes. But, he wasn't that mad."

"He threatened to kill me Daise. Him and my father both."

"Oh, he was much more angry with Annie and Matt, he threatened Matt with disembowelment and to cut Annie out of the will if they didn't get married this time."

"He's buying them a house."

Daisy shrugged "Annie doesn't scare easily."

"That makes me feel much better." James rolled his eyes and dipped her so deep it made her squeal, then he pulled her close and whispered in her ear.

"I always knew it would be you Daisy. There was never anyone else for me, ever."

Daisy pulled back, her eyes moist. "I think...deep in my heart, I always knew it would be you too. For forever. Even when I was married to Robert...my heart wanted you."

James leaned in and kissed her, his lips so soft and sweet against hers. It was where Daisy knew she belonged...the only place she ever wanted to belong.

"May I?" George stood behind James, his hand out

"You're the only one I would let cut in."

"Suck up." George hissed as James let Daisy go.

"Is it working?"

"I'll let you know in twenty years kid, now, beat it."

James grinned and went to hunt up his own mother for a dance, meanwhile, George pulled his little girl into his arms and smiled down at her.

"Well, I never thought I would see the day...but, I guess this is it."

Daisy looked at him, puzzled.

"I finally understand why your Grandpa Xenophilius hated me so much at first."

"Grandpa loved you Daddy, you know that."

"Oh yes, after he had time to get used to me. But at first, he loathed me...and now, I understand why."

"And why is that?"

"Because he knew that I was the one, the one who was going to take his little girl away from him forever."

"How could he have known..."

"Because I looked at your mother the exact same way James looks at you. And you know, it doesn't help that I've had sixteen years to prepare for this moment, nor that I always knew it would be James. I still hate him."

"Hating is bad Daddy." Daisy softly admonished

"Can't help it sweetheart. It's a daddy's right to hate the bloke who takes his little girl away." He sighed deeply as a tear rolled down his cheek. "My little Daisy May is going away, and it doesn't help that I know you are going to a good place, to a wonderful man, nor that you will only be a few miles away. I'm going to miss you sweetheart."

"Oh daddy." Daisy hugged him tightly, giving up all pretense of dancing. "I love you so much...I am so lucky. I have the best Daddy in the world."

"No Daise...thank you. Thank you for getting lost that day." George said with a sad smile. "If you hadn't...I might never have been found."

"Is it my turn again yet?" James stood at George's elbow, his face hopeful for a return to his wifes arms. George kissed Daisy's cheek, then bowed and turned away.

It was time to find his other daughter...time to say goodbye to another little girl he loved with all his heart.

His Annie.

* * *

-

* * *

-Thanks to everyone who has read this story, and those who read Correcting Mistakes! Whew...it is such a relief to FINALLY get James and Daisy out of my head! Here's a little epilogue to the epilogue!

Daisy and James had five Children, (not counting RJ) three girls named Ginevra, Lily and Molly, and two boys James Sirius, Arthur George...and of course, RJ.

Luna's next, and last, child was a girl named Posey.

Annies Twins, which I never really went into, were boys, named George Charles and Fredrick Percy, her Triplets, were girls named Azalea Anne, Daisy May and Angelia Lee. The fact that Annie never had children after her triplets let to much speculation among the Weasley's that Annie had, in fact, "Ripped it off" However, after years of embarrassment and teasing, (and a fair amount of firewhiskey) Matt dropped his pants and proved that he was still in tact during a family picnic.

Freddy and Sylvia had two children, both boys. Over the years, Freddy and James managed to learn to be civil to one another, though for years Freddy continued to goad James over the fact that he would have been a "much more suitable husband" for Daisy. this ended abruptly however after James one Sunday dinner went up to Sylvia, put his arm over her head and leaned in and said "How YOU doin?"

Freddy never goaded James again.

Eventually, Daisy took over running the Quibbler. James returned to his job as an Auror until just before he and Daisy married. After, he took over running the joke shop in Hogsmeade. Harry was eventually offered the much rumored opening for Minister of Magic, he turned it down. Next, it was offered to his second in command

...Ron Weasley.

Ron, thinking it was all a big joke, owled back and said "Yeah sure, why not."

And that was how Ron Weasley, to his own considerable shock, at last topped all of his brothers achievments in one fell swoop...

By becoming Minister of Magic.

* * *

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End file.
